Back to the roots - Zurück zum Ebola-freien Anfang

JUST REALIZED THAT SOME OF THIS INFO IS NOW ON THIS BLOG TWICE, EXCUSE MY INCREDIBLY BAD MEMORY. BUT MUCH MORE INFO HERE!

We made it! After having our forehead temperature checked, we were allowed back into the country. Ebola-free.
Wir haben es tatsächlich geschafft! Nach Messung der Stirntemperatur an der ugandisch-ruandischen Grenze wurden wir zurück ins Land gelassen. Die Fahrt verlangte mir um einiges mehr an Magenentspannungsübungen ab, aber Dank der Anti-Spei-Tabletten war es kein größeres Problem.

Our day at Lake Bunyonyi was spent very pleasantly, with a walk, a boat ride, nice views and cold beers. Unfortunately, just when we were about to take the trip back to our hotel, a storm of crazy magnitude unfolded in front of our eyes. We sought refuge in the Hotel we had been at half the day already, drank strong ginger tea, found some cards to play and finally had dinner, cause the storm would not cease. Next to the obvious issue of getting completely soaked, we were even more worried about the state of the road, as there was no tarmac on it and we had already encountered amounts of mud that any pig would be proud to call home. Since no cars other than jeeps were able to pass anymore, and since noone had a jeep, we took it upon ourselves to walk back late at night. Our shoes definitely needed a good clean afterwards, but we managed without slipping. 

This is the first pumpkin I've ever seen hanging in the air...

 

Little history lesson: Uganda is a very large country and was originally home to many different tribes. If I remember correctly, Beth mentioned that there are 52 spoken languages. When the incredibly small-minded English colonizers arrived, they made Uganda one country, ignoring that the space was a melting pot for many different peoples. One can imagine how hard it must be to govern this country, similar to the European union, with one major difference: Countries in the EU are in the coalition willingly (other than the Brexiters...).

 

On our way there we still escaped the muddy walkway by taking a boat. Unfortunately, the boat couldn't take us back after the storm, cause they don't have lights to drive at night. It would have also been majorly disgusting out "at sea"...

 

These views presented themselves around every corner or gap in the folliage. Amazing!

 

And yes, there is flora here that you only see in botanical gardens in Europe. Also yes, this is Africa. It is amazing what a skewed image I had of Africa before coming here. It's so large and so diverse, obviously there are also lush forests and beautiful lakes. So far, I have not seen even one dry bush...

 

Me, Laura (classmate), Martin (friend of Beth's fro Uganda and birthday boy), Beth (classmate)

 

That's how we spent half our Sunday, chilling at the waterside with cold "Nile Special". I love life here.

 

Sunset, just before the storm hit...

 

The hotel staff took pity on us, cause we couldn't leave and lit a fire for us. How nice and cozy!

 

After our walk back. Martin opted for saving his shoes at expense of cold feet. I have since purchased a shoe brush for 65 cents and was able to make them look presentable once more.

 

Another good night's sleep and we're going back to Kabale. Uganda and Rwanda so far look very similar (it is only 3 hours by bus to the South of Uganda). Major differences: Uganda seems a little less strictly ordered and people are more open- and party-minded. African beats are played at all hours of the day and from all the shops. We also witnessed several parties at the lake the night before and people even invited us in to dance with them. Other big difference: The boda-bodas have an umbrella here. We were considering to buy one and take it with us on our boda-boda adventures in Kigali, where they do not use such practical inventions.

This is us, happy with a Rolex, traditional and popular Ugandan streetfood. A chapati (like a pancake) with an omelette with tomate, onion and pepper on it. If your're lucky, you can get other fillings too. This one was just missing Akabanga, spicey sauce made from Pili Pili chilies that can be found in both Uganda and Rwanda and are my absolute favorite condiment. Rolex can be had for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I did just that. Otherwise, Ugandan cuisine is quite similar to the Rwandan one: Goat, fish, rice, matoke (banana), chips, spinach, beans, avocado.